


no better to be safe than sorry

by yeastlings



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Childhood Friends, Fluff, Food, Friends to Lovers, Love Confessions, M/M, Pining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-13
Updated: 2020-08-13
Packaged: 2021-03-06 02:26:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 820
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25875856
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yeastlings/pseuds/yeastlings
Summary: While testing out a new onigiri recipe, Osamu makes a surprising discovery about Aran and learns that sometimes, you really don't need to complicate things.
Relationships: Miya Osamu/Ojiro Aran
Comments: 10
Kudos: 44





	no better to be safe than sorry

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by a prompt from trilobites: "Osamu learns that Aran is a picky eater when he only somewhat enjoys eating one of his new onigiri recipes."

“Ya don’t like it.”

Osamu frowned at the half-eaten onigiri still on Aran’s plate. Usually Aran finished his onigiri in one or two bites, but with this one—a new recipe with extra spicy dakgalbi that Osamu was testing out—he’d nibbled little bit by little bit. It was so painful to watch that Osamu was about to tell him he didn’t need to keep trying; Osamu would finish it for him.

Aran waved his hands in protest. “No! ‘Course I like it! Your food’s always really delicious.”

Osamu couldn’t help puffing up at the praise. It was habit: he and Atsumu had been fighting each other for Aran’s approval since grade school, after all. Still, the onigiri sat between them, tangible proof that something was lacking.

“Be honest with me, Aran-kun. I can’t be servin’ my customers mediocre food.”

Aran scratched his head, looking sheepish. “Well…”

“Whatever you’ve gotta say, it can’t be worse than when Kita-san told me my rice was underseasoned. I thought I was gonna die from shame.” 

“No, no, it’s nothin’ like that. It’s…ah, well, I don’t really like the perilla.”

Osamu blinked. “What, like it’s overpowerin’?”

“Not exactly. Maybe? I just don’t like the taste, is all.”

So there was nothing wrong with the seasoning. There couldn’t have been too much perilla, either, since Osamu had only added it at the end as garnish. Could it be?

“Aran-kun, are ya secretly a picky eater?”

Aran drew himself up in indignation. It might have looked more convincing if his cheeks weren’t dusted with pink. “I’m not!”

“There isn’t even that much perilla in the fillin’.”

“It’s a strong flavor!”

“Yeah, ‘cause it’s supposed to be! Cuts through the salt and spiciness.”

Osamu pulled the plate towards him, only for Aran to grab its other side. They played tug of war for a bit, Aran insisting that he would finish eating. It was clear that this wasn’t about saving Osamu’s feelings anymore: Aran was embarrassed at having been found out as a picky eater, and now he was determined to prove Osamu otherwise. He’d always had these streaks of immaturity. Osamu had learned about them early on, when he would sulk because Osamu and his brother were too absorbed in something to pay him the usual amount of attention.

Osamu knew from experience how stubborn he could be, so he cheated: he leaned in and kissed Aran, and when Aran let go of the plate in surprise, he whisked it out of his reach.

He set the plate on the kitchen counter for later, then turned around and came face to face with Aran. They were so close that their noses brushed. 

“Are ya really just gonna kiss me and then not say anythin’?” he demanded.

“Uh…” He could see the sweep of Aran’s long eyelashes in minute detail, and it was distracting him. “I’ll make ya another onigiri without the perilla?” 

The truth was, there was a lifetime’s worth of things to say about quiet orbiting and relishing in the rare moments when Aran’s attention rested on him alone. But Osamu hadn’t been thinking about any of that when he kissed Aran: he’d just been filled with too much affection to hold in.

Aran blinked. Osamu only had a moment to regret acting so rashly before Aran’s mouth was pressed against his again. Aran’s hands came up to his face, cradling it gently. When they parted, he leaned his forehead against Osamu’s and said, “Yer bein’ so dumb. Sometimes it’s okay to just say what you’re feelin’ and not worry about what folks think.”

“Uh, y’know Aran-kun, I think in this case I _should_ be worryin’ about what you think.”

“Yeah? Try me.”

There was nowhere to hide, not even behind a mask of disinterest. Aran knew him too well for that. Averting his gaze, he muttered, “I like you.” 

“I like you, too,” Aran replied, easy as anything.

It was Osamu’s turn to blush. “Wait, that’s it?”

“What d’ya mean ‘that’s it’? Should there be more to it?”

“It’s just—I mean—it was so simple!”

“Uh, yeah? If ya like someone ya like them, and if they like ya back that’s even better. What’s there to complicate?” 

Osamu thought about all the things he’d thought were complicated: people’s opinions and expectations, figuring out what he wanted to do with life, balancing and re-balancing the ingredients in a recipe until it was just perfect. No matter how convoluted the problems got, when the answers came they did so quietly, everything falling into place without fanfare.

“Nothin’,” he said, wrapping his arms around Aran’s waist. “There’s nothin’ to complicate.”

He closed the distance between them, and when their lips met again, more insistent this time, he let go of the doubts that lingered in the back of his mind—in spite of them, Aran had picked him after all, and that was good enough.

**Author's Note:**

> Miya Osamu, ages 10 through 23: Aran-kun is so cool, so cute, so talented, but can he tell me apart from my stupid brother? Maybe he can but I'm just the ordinary twin? 
> 
> Ojiro Aran, age 24: I just realized that my childhood friend, who is tall, hot, and owns a successful business, has been in love with me all this time. How could we have wasted so many years? 
> 
> Osamu and Atsumu are ethnically Korean. You will pry this headcanon from my cold, dead fingers. 
> 
> Title is from a-ha's "Take On Me" (yes, THAT song. Shut up okay it's cute and it fits the story, it's not my fault it's become a meme).
> 
> [find me on twitter](https://twitter.com/ninetalesk)


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